Process of making cleaning compounds



Patented Nov. 26, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEYMOUR B. DEWEY,.13., OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR '10 THOMAS H. TAYLOR, OF EASTMCKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA PROCESS OF MAKING CLEANING COMPOUNDS NoDrawing.

This invention relates to cleaning compounds for floors, woodwork andthe like and more particularly to the process of making the cleaningcompound.

An object of my invention is to provide a process of making such acleaning compound which is particularly effective for cleaning linoleum,rubber, marble and other kinds of floors, painted or varnished woodworkand the like.

Another object of my invention is to provide a process of makingacleaning compound which contains a minimum amount of free alkali so thatthe compound will not be injurious to the human skin or to the articlebeing cleaned.

A further object of my invention is to provide a process of making amild liquid soap having valuble detergent and germicidal properties, andwhich is readily misclble with water to form a smooth soap solution ofany desired concentration.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in theart from the description of it hereinafter given.

The preferred form of soap is prepared from raw linseed oilsaponifiedwith potassium hydroxide. It has been found that potassiumhydroxide produces a softer, more smooth soap and emulsion without theliability of forming curds or scums.

Castor oil may also be present in the cleaning compound'and the castoroil may either be substantially all saponified or partly saponified andpartly in an unsaponified emulsion. A saponified castor oil is not onlya detergent and a solvent, but has very valuable preservative andgermicidal properties.

Linseed oil is advantageous in that it re- 40 acts readily with thesaponifying agent to form a smooth soap having excellent detergentqualities. in certain cases be employed in place of linseed oil, -Igreatly prefer linseed oil as the 5 main ingredient of my soap.

castor oil may be present in the soap to ad- While cotton seed oilmight- Application filed December 24, 1926. Serial No. 157,000.

Castor oil in its saponified condition imparts not only detergentqualities to the soap, but also extremely valuable preservative andgermicidal properties. Thus, it is now known that castor oil soap has ahigher germicidal value than carbolic, acid. The amount ofsaponifiedcastor oil in the soap Wlll, of course, depend on the characteristicsdesired in the finished soap. Unsaponified vantage, whereby an extremelythin film of oil may remain on the surface to be cleaned. This featureis particularly desirable when the soap is used, for example, incleaning articles where an excellent finish is desired, such as, finewoodwork, furniture and even some kinds of floors.

I prefer in the manufacture of my soap to permit any glycerin formed toremain in the soap, thereby addinga soothing effect when til: soap comesin contact with the human s n.

In the manufacture of my improved soap,

caustic potash preferably of relatively high a purity is used tosaponify the linseed oil or other oil from which the soap is beingformed. We have found that a very desirable way of carrying out thesaponification is to heat the oil, such as linseed oil, withsubstantially equal amounts of water substantially to the boiling point,and separately dissolve the potassium hydroxide in water, to form aconcentrated solution. The potassium hydroxide solution is then heatedif necessary to bring it to substantially the same t mperature as thehot oil and water, and is a ded in successive increments to the oil andwater.

Upon thorough mixing of the oil and potassium hydroxide, heating iscontinued until the mixture boils for some time and the saponificationreaction has taken place in the solution. Cold water is then added insubstantial quantities together with constant stirring, and this seemsto cause formation of a gel of the soap and produces a very homowatermay even be further increased by permitting the mixture to age for from1 to 7 days and then diluting to the proper amount to obtain the desiredconcentration and consistency,

Breferably sufficient potassium hydroxide is used to give an excess ofalkali to the mixture, and after the saponificatio'n'reaction and theaddition of the cold water a small amount a of castor oil may be addeddepending upon the desired composition of the resulting compound. Thecastor oil is preferably added in sufiicient quantity to be partlysaponified by the free alkali, and the remaining portion of the castoroil forms an unsaponified emulsion of castor oi l in excess of theamount required to. react with the free alkali.

For cleaning purposes the amount of castor oil added is preferably about1% of the soap solution, but if it be desired to have the soap solutionmore germicidal or to have more unsaponified castor oil in emulsion,more castor 011 may be used.

The percentage of castor oil may be as great as from 5% to 10% ifdesired, and by controlling the amount of potassium hydroxide used suchcastor oil may be completely saponified or partially saponified, leavingthe balance as an unsaponified emulsion of castor oil.

The unsaponified castor oil or other oil present in the soap solutionforms a thin film of oil on the surface being cleaned. It is obvious,therefore, that the desired film of oil may be controlled by controllingthe amount of unsaponified emulsion of oil present in the liquid soapand by the selection of an oil which has in relatively high degree theproperty of spreading on and adhering to the surface.

It is preferred to use caustic potash to.

cause saponification because this produces a softer, smoother soap whichhas a lower melting point and is liquid under ordinary conditions, andalso has a. greater solubility. The addition of the cold water mentionedabove results in the gelatinization or thickening of the potassium soap.The soap is quite hygroscopic and takes up water freely, and thisproperty is taken advantage of to produce a very smooth liquid soapwhich may be readily mixed with water to. the desired consistency.

The cleamng compound may be concentratvarious purposes. It may be noted,however, that freezing and thawing does not seem to injure the liquidsoap product produced bymy process. 7 I

It will furthermore be noted that I prefer to permit any glycerin formedduring the saponification to remain in the soap. As has been previouslymentioned, the presence of glycerin is advantageous when the soap comesin contact with the human skin.

It may also be noted that pine oil or sassafras oil or any othersuitable oils to provide departing from my invention as defined in theappended claims.

What I claim is 1. The process of making a cleaning compound whichcomprises' heating linseed oil with water, adding postassium hydroxidein excess of that required to saponi the oil, boiling the mixture untilsaponi cation is substantially complete, adding cold water to causegelatinization of the soap solution, adding castor oil in a quantity inexcess of that required to react with the free potassium hydroxide,heating the mixture and thereby saponifying a portion of the castor oiland forming an emulsion of unsaponified oil.

2. The process of making a cleaning com pound, which consists in heatinglinseed oil and water, adding successive increments of potassiumhydroxide to saponify the oil, boiling the mixture until saponificationis substantially complete, adding a sufficient quantity of cold water tothe hot soap solution to cause the same to gel, adding castor oil, andemulsifying the castor oil in the soap solution to form a homogeneouscleaning compound.

3. The process of making a cleaning compound, which consists in heatinglinseed oil and water, adding successive increments of potassiumhydroxide to saponify the oil, boiling the mixture until saponificationis substantially complete, adding a suflicient quantity of cold water tothe hot soap solution to cause the same to gel, adding castor oil,emulsifying the castor oil in the'soap solution, and permitting theresulting soap solution to age.

4. The process of making a cleaning compound, which consists in heatinglinseed oil and water to approximately the boiling point of the mixture,dissolving potassium hydroxide in water and heating the same tosubstantially the same temperature as the linseed oil mixture, addingsaid hot potassium hydroxide solution in successive increments to thelinseed oil mixture to saponify said oil, boiling the mixture untilsaponification is substantially complete, adding a sufiicient quan tityof cold water to the soap solution while constantly stirring said soapsolution to cause gelatinization thereof, adding castor oil, emulsifyingthe castor oil with the soap solution, permitting the resulting soapsolution to age, and subsequently diluting the soap solution with thewater to the desired consistency.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

SEYMOUR B. DEWEY, J R.

